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Thursday, February 15, 2018

The book had me at its front cover... dragging your partner, holding on for dear life, stumbling into unforgettable (good and bad) shared experiences and I wanted to read How To Be Marriedby Jo Piazza. The author's candid and hilarious insights into the first year of her marriage along with invaluable wisdom from women around the world made me laugh, cry and think, 'That's so me! Yikes!' A great read not only for brides-to-be, newly weds but for anyone who wonders about the mysteries of a marriage!

Friday, February 02, 2018

Creativation 2018 just took place in Phoenix, Arizona. Many manufacturers showcased their newest releases at this craft trade show. I was one of the few very lucky (happy dance!!!) people to be given the opportunity to design some projects with the brand new Sizzix dies designed by THE Tim Holtz!

If you are following this blog hop, you are probably coming from Audrey Pettit's blog. If you are new here, WELCOME! If you are revisting, then welcome back!

Let me share with you the projects I made for the show. I'll also list the dies that I used in each project, so you can make your own list of the must-haves. For each of these projects, I used an Etcetera Tag by Tim Holtz as my base/ surface/ substrate - whatever you like to call it.

Use your die cuts with coloring mediums of your choice, add doodles, make them your own and have FUN!

Be sure to join in this blog hop to get oodles of inspiration. Your next stop is Richele's blog.

And do not miss out on the GIVEAWAY.

GIVE AWAY DETAILS

PRIZES, PRIZES,PRIZES!

We have a few prizes to give away just leave a comment on ALL the different blog hop posts for a chance to win! Remember, the more blogs you leave
comments on, the better your chances of winning a giveaway.

Comments must be posted by midnight PST on Tuesday, February 6th.

Winners will be announced on Wednesday, February 7th on Richele's blog (californiaARTgirl.blogspot.com)

Monday, December 04, 2017

I had read Eric Ries's The Lean Startup as part of an online business class book list. Being new to such ideas, I was quite impressed. When I saw The Startup Way, I was curious to know more even though it's targeted towards business leaders. My business is tiny but I work with bigger businesses and every now and then stumble upon 'impossibles' because bigger organizations cannot make adjustments readily. And I have seen even big businesses fold as the industry changes. The Startup Way offers insight and advice about how entrepreneurial strategies can be used in businesses as they grow. It sites case studies and offer action plans to grow and scale innovation teams
inside large and established organizations focusing on the power of making entrepreneurship a core function inside every
organization so it can adapt to industry changes. Again, I'm not in this league of business, so I don't have a critical overview but it was an interesting read.

Friday, December 01, 2017

A creatively wrapped gift brings joy no matter what the occasion. But packaging a gift card can be tricky. In today's tutorial, I'll show you how to create a gift card package using Lynda Kanase's Sizzix Bigz L Die - Card, Slider and other dies from her Picture This! collection. Let's start by looking at the supplies.

Now, let me walk you through the steps.

To die-cut the Card Slider out of chipboard, create the following Sizzix Sandwich: on a Sizzix Accessory Standard Cutting Pad, lay the Sizzix Bigz L Die - Card, Slider blade-side up. Place the chipboard on the die and cover with the other Standard Cutting Pad. Pass the whole Sandwich through the Sizzix Big Shot machine. Press down the crease lines to make the folds and use adhesive to construct the Card Slider.

Paint the card slider with your favorite coloring medium. Stamp or stencil some pattern on to the plain background.

Attach the mounted sentiments to the Card Slider as shown. Make sure that none of these blocks stick out when the slider is closed.

Also stamp a sentiment on the back of the Card Slider. We are just trying to dress it up, so pick and choose how you want to embellish yours.

Stamp the Christmas Trees on cardstock. Color it with brush markers.To die-cut the Christmas trees and Seasonal Photo Stand, create the following Sizzix Sandwich - on a Sizzix Accessory - Standard Magnetic Platform for Wafer-Thin Dies, lay a Standard Cutting Pad. On it, place cardstock and the Sizzix Framelits Die Set 7PK w/Stamps - Photo Stand, Seasonal blade side down. Place the word dies making sure they both face the same way when the whole piece is die-cut.

Also lay the Christmas Trees die framing the stamped image on cardstock. Cover with the other Standard Cutting Pad and pass the whole sandwich through the Sizzix Big Shot machine.Cut small blocks from Sizzix Paper - 4" x 6" Cardstock Pad, Picture This!, 36 Sheets. This would add a pop of color to the Card Slider when you insert them behind the diecut words on the Photo Stand.

Although the Photo Stand is really a stand-alone piece, I used it to accent my Card Slider. You can always use an element in a way that you like.

When you are finished, slide in your gift card.

I hope you enjoyed today's tutorial and have fun playing with these cute dies!

Thursday, November 30, 2017

Tags are no longer just for labeling and gift giving, they are a part of Holiday crafting. Today I'll show you how to make the above tags with Sizzix dies and stamps by Katelyn Lizardi that you can tie to a gift package as well as use on other craft and decor projects.

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Did you know that Creativebug is having a Black Friday sale? And that means if you sign up between 11/22 and 11/29, you get the first three months of subscription for just $1. This sale only happens once a year and it ends on 11/29!

At Creativebug you'll find over a thousand classes, with new ones added every week, covering various types of crafts from Art and Design to Holiday and Party and almost everything in between

There are mixed media and art journaling classes as well. I have taught the following classes at Creativebug and currently preparing to shoot more classes early next year.